Being a depressed White Sox fan is made slightly more palatable by the performance of my local baseball team.

This is a perfect example of the contagious nature of good play.
The Pirates have received great pitching from castoffs like AJ Burnett, Wandy Rodriguez, and now Francisco Liriano. A kid named Jeff Locke is pitching lights out. The bullpen, led by Jason Grilli (saves leader) and Mark Melancon (who at one time had a 49.50 ERA with Boston), is lights out.

Young talent abounds in the field, with Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Pedro Alvarez, and Neal Walker.

They play baseball with a great attitude, they have young stars mixed with players looking to prove themselves, and a manager that is doing a phenomenal job motivating them.

Oh, and now young Mr. Cole is on the roster, and he looks GOOD.

It's a lot of fun to watch this team play ball. It shows me that better days can be ahead for the Sox if they take advantage of their down years, draft well at the top, and make some value trades.

__________________"Guess what? I bought you a Hawk and DJ bobblehead on ebay. It even says 'Hawk' on Hawk's hat. Isn't that cool."
---My awesome father